Dessert Research Society, First Sale Launch! (2)
Dessert Research Society, First Sale Launch! (2)
After the incident with Ian,
Rina Rosewell had changed dramatically.
From her romantic preferences down to the smallest habits.
So many things had shifted it was hard to catalog them all.
Her newfound preference for dim, shadowy spaces over sun-drenched rooms was one of them.
Inside a room darkened by blackout curtains,
Rina Rosewell reached out and turned on her Kirtos terminal.
[ Ian ] : Come to the club room by 7 a.m. tomorrow.
[ Rina ] : okay, i'll be there!
The Kirtos message Ian had sent her yesterday.
It was five o'clock now, so she had about two hours left.
Rina gently pressed the terminal with Ian's message against her chest and waited for time to pass.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded whenever she thought of Ian.
No.
It felt more like her heart only beat when she thought of Ian.
Ever since that day she'd fought Ian while contaminated by the blue mushrooms—the day he'd scolded her so harshly—her thoughts of him had only deepened with each passing day.
No matter how much she struggled to escape it, she couldn't shake the memory of that impossibly thick forearm and those veins.
Her heart would pound and pound until her whole body grew hot.
At first, she'd interpreted the fluttering as simply "Ian helped me break free of my 'nice girl' shell and grow."
But that kind of nervous excitement couldn't explain her body heating up this way.
When she'd asked a friend savvy about romance—phrasing it as if it were about someone else—the answer had been:
— You're the first person who ever slapped me! Maybe it's that kind of effect? Rina, you've only ever had people smile at you. Honestly, looking at you, smiling is the only natural reaction anyway.
"Could that really be it?"
It sounded plausible.
The way Ian had looked down at her coldly—that gaze was icier and more chilling than a field of eternal snow.
That chill had ultimately made her reflect on herself, had helped her break out of her mold.
In the end, every train of thought led to the same conclusion: no matter which way she approached it, Ian was precious to her.
And that was why she wanted him.
Ian's gaze.
His breathing.
His gestures.
His rough touch.
She wanted him so desperately that even if it meant conceding part of him to someone else, she still wanted whatever she could get.
Just yesterday, that had still been true.
"Danya had Ian's scent on her."
Danya had come to her dorm late at night.
Even as she listened to her story, Rina couldn't stand the smell of Ian lingering on Danya's body.
What on earth had the two of them been doing together that late?
Danya kept fidgeting with her toes and blushing, so there had clearly been some significant progress between them.
Though it didn't seem like they'd gone as far as kissing or beyond.
— U-um... is it better to close your eyes when you kiss, mew?
The fact that she was asking how to kiss properly and what came after made it obvious.
Even as Rina answered, she felt overwhelmingly envious of Danya.
If only I had even that much of an opening.
Rina idly fiddled with the handkerchief tied around her neck.
The one and only thing Ian had ever given her.
She buried her nose in the handkerchief and inhaled deeply.
The scent of him, which she'd managed to reapply when she had the chance, had now mostly faded and grown faint.
"...I can't keep holding out with just this forever."
She'd been stubbornly enduring it for weeks now.
Just yesterday, while pretending to comfort the troubled Danya with a hug, she'd caught herself searching for traces of Ian on her body.
The guilt had been crushing, but she couldn't stop.
"Honestly, it'd be easier if Danya and Ian just went ahead and slept together."
To claim Ian for herself, Rina had many rivals she'd have to overcome.
The first was Danya.
Even to Rina's own eyes, Danya was a coy girl you wanted to stroke and occasionally tease just a little.
She and Danya had formed a strategic alliance.
Because Danya, like Rina, lacked confidence with men—and at the same time was desperate enough to possess Ian even if it meant sharing him.
An agreement: if you take first place, I'll aim for second.
Danya was her comrade in this fight.
Which made the next person a more genuine rival.
The second: Sylvia Laurent.
The young lady of the Laurent Trading Company, which held enormous influence over Lichten and the surrounding regions. She was so elegant, dignified, refined, and aloof that the title "young lady" barely did her justice.
Her hair cascaded softly, impossible to tell whether it was silver or gold. Her pale purple eyes gleamed like precious metal. Her sleek figure carried sophisticated clothing effortlessly.
Rina hadn't noticed it before, but ever since she'd become interested in "femininity," Sylvia struck her as more formidable by the day.
"...Still, I've got the upper hand in the chest department."
Sylvia's bust wasn't that large.
Rina had already devised a strategy to emphasize that advantage a bit more.
"The problem is, when it comes to chests, there's Her Imperial Highness..."
That woman's figure was, honestly, a disaster-class threat as a rival.
But she was impossibly busy, so Rina clung to the hope that she probably didn't have much time for this sort of thing.
"And then there's Professor Asilia, I suppose..."
Asilia.
The two claimed a teacher-student relationship, but they were far too pressed together in the dantian for that to be convincing.
And come to think of it, as a wildcard, there was Sharon Pierce.
Rina had sensed it vaguely for a long time.
As much as Sharon loathed and detested Ian, that very hatred kept her eyes fixed solely on him.
The one and only rival the prideful Sharon acknowledged was Ian himself.
Whenever that girl, who rarely spoke, actually opened her mouth, everything that came out was about Ian.
"Still, Sharon, your road to earning forgiveness is going to be long and brutal."
Rina had come to realize something.
Ian's heart was like a wall made of massive, impossibly heavy stone.
It was rarely swayed by outside influence—but at the same time, getting inside was extraordinarily difficult.
Even Rina herself was just clinging to that wall, pleading and struggling.
Even if that girl joined the fight, she'd have to start by crossing a distant moat, so she wasn't really competition.
"......"
Rina tightened the handkerchief around her neck a little more.
Truthfully, she didn't wish for much from Ian.
Just occasionally.
Only on the days when she felt this unbearably desperate.
She hoped he'd seize her once more with that same firm hand.
To earn his praise, she'd have to work even harder helping him.
Soon, it was time to start getting ready.
As she put on a dress borrowed from a friend—one that subtly revealed the silhouette of her chest—Rina murmured to herself.
"Now that I think about it, I did hear there's a mating season."
Maybe giving Danya a little extra push wouldn't be such a bad idea.
First things first—how about starting by helping Ian as hard as I can?
◆
Seven o'clock in the morning.
The day of the Dessert Research Society's first public showcase.
I'd summoned the crew at the crack of dawn to secure the freshest possible fruit.
The ones who showed up were Rina and Elena.
I asked Rina.
"Where's Danya?"
"She's come down with a fever, still asleep."
"A fever? If she's ill, I should go pay her a visit."
"No. If you go, Ian, she'll definitely get worse."
Hmm. So there's a chance she caught it from me?
That was plausible enough.
Anyway, it seemed Rina and Danya had gotten quite close.
"How did you two end up so tight all of a sudden?"
"Heh heh. Don't underestimate the friend-making powers of Rina Rosewell."
Fair point. Rina's social magnetism was beyond question.
I gave the two of them a brief rundown of our destination.
At that, Rina's hand shot up.
"Oh, that place? It's way faster if we go this way!"
Rina led Elena and me into the back alleys of the market.
"Isn't this a bit too secluded?"
"I'm at the market every day, so just trust me and follow!"
Ever since she'd been kicked out of the dorms, she'd apparently been buying ingredients at the market and cooking for herself. It probably saved money, too.
She seemed genuinely cheerful, walking ahead with her hands clasped behind her back.
The alley itself, however, was rundown.
Gloomy and a bit damp, you could say.
"Sometimes bugs or animals come out, but it's really rare, so don't worry."
"Seems like a slightly intimidating place to walk alone."
"Yeah. But this route's the fastest."
"I see."
"Besides I feel pretty safe today since I'm with Ian."
Rina glanced my way, closing one eye in a grin.
With that face of hers, the occasional drifters we passed had their gazes fixed squarely on her.
"Definitely a path better walked with a guy."
"Right, exactly."
"Don't you have a lot of friends? You could ask one of them."
"Uh, y-yeah. S-sure, right?"
Rina's mood mysteriously deflated.
She muttered quietly.
"But I don't actually know any male students."
"What?"
"O-oh, no, I just meant—just in case you misunderstood. I don't have any close guy friends... except you."
"Is that so."
Interesting.
Apparently Rina's social-butterfly instincts only activated around other women.
Just then.
Elena, who'd been walking in silence—or maybe half-asleep—suddenly shrieked.
"A s-snake!"
At the tip of her pointing finger, something was definitely wriggling.
"...Ee. Eeek!"
Along with a bizarrely delayed scream, my arm was suddenly enveloped in warmth.
Warm and soft.
"Rina."
"What do we do, Ian! I'm so scared of snakes."
Eyes squeezed shut, Rina had latched onto my arm and was thrashing.
Every time she moved, a lively yet alluring floral fragrance rose from her chest.
Whatever her intentions, continuing to stare at that bouncing display would probably not be advisable.
I peeled the long, squirming thing off the wall.
"Calm down. It's not a snake. It's a salamander."
— Slither
After one more squirm, Rina cautiously opened her eyes.
"Hehe. I had no idea."
"Now you do. More importantly, are we going to keep walking like this?"
"Ah, yeah."
At my observation, Rina discreetly pulled away.
Though as we walked on, she remained close enough that our clothes occasionally brushed.
But if it didn't impede our walking, it was probably fine.
More importantly.
The real problem was elsewhere.
True to Rina's claim about the shortcut, we'd reached the fruit wholesaler faster than usual.
Along with the sound of something shattering.
— Splatter-crash!
A red liquid ran down the inside of the window glass.
The store was being trashed.
— Crunch!
Collapsed wooden trays.
Fruit burst open on the floor.
"What on earth is..."
We stopped, bewildered.
Just then.
— Whoosh!
Something red came flying from a gap in the shop.
Round, red, about the size of a man's fist. And with a hint of green on top.
'...What is that?'
I stood there watching it blankly.
Then Elena launched herself from behind me.
"No!"
...
..
.
— Splat!
By a hair's breadth, it hit the floor.
— Drip, drip
The red liquid that spilled out stained Elena's pristine white hand.
"M-my tomato... nooooo!"
A single tear fell from Elena onto the tomato.